GRAPHIC NOVELS

The Fearsome Doctor Fang

Chun, Tze & Mike Weiss (text) & & Daniela Miwa (illus.). TKO. 2018. 172p. ISBN 9781732748514. pap. $17.99. Rated: Teen+. ACTION/ADVENTURE
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OrangeReviewStarIn 1906 San Francisco, headstrong police officer Nayland Kelly uncovers a lead in his revenge-fueled hunt for the Fearsome Doctor Fang when he learns that the supervillain will try to pilfer an artifact: the puzzle box of Kublai Khan. After the opening night presentation of a Kublai Khan lecture series by researcher Alice Lecroix, Fang bursts onto the scene, swooping in to steal the box and then flying away. Nayland and Alice team up to follow him, ignoring that the presumed villain interrupts his getaway to save some children from the threat of a collapsing building (presumably resulting from the devastating 1906 earthquake predicted by Fang himself). Nayland and Alice eventually catch up to Fang, but then all three are beset by a different crew of masked brigands. Over the course of the clash, Nayland shockingly discovers that Fang is leveraging his keen intellect and amazing inventions to combat fiendishness. Can the trio work together and prevent a hideous weapon secreted by Kublai Khan from being unleashed? Collects single issues 1–6.
VERDICT This rip-snorting, two-fisted pulp adventure is the first of four titles in TKO's debut lineup. Here, filmmaker and TKO publisher/cofounder Chun (7 Deadly Sins), along with Weiss (The Mentalist) and artists McDaid (Firefly) and Miwa (Shaft) take the tarnished tropes of "yellow peril" fiction and flip it, transforming Fang into a Tony Stark-esque superinventor with a heart of gold. With any luck, this will be the first of many globe-trotting, stereotype-crushing adventures.
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